NYARUGENGE - Kigali City mayor Aisa Kirabo Kacyira has warned beggars around the city, saying they either quit or tough measures will be taken against them.

Kirabo, who addressed hundreds of city dwellers on Sunday night at a bash on Commercial Street as part of Kigali’s centenary celebrations, said many people choose to become beggars yet they have ways of surviving.

"We don’t want to see beggars on street. It is a bad habit,” she said.

She however promised the city council will create employment opportunities for the jobless.

"We will create jobs for the youth in the city,” she said, drawing applause from the crowd.

She said the overwhelming number of beggars is creating a bad image of the city because most of them pretend to be disabled and portray extreme poverty to the contrary.

"We have many tourists and many of them think we are extremely poor because of the number of beggars,” she said.
She urged people to work hard and strive to improve the image of the city.

She lauded companies that partnered with the city to organise the bash.

Many local artistes entertained the crowd until midnight.
MTN Rwanda and East African Breweries were some of the companies that organised the bash, which was graced by among others, the newly crowned Miss Kigali 2007 Cynthia Akazuba.

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